Consumers today are more demanding; they have more disposable income and many options to choose from. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies need to keep abreast of changing consumer needs and business scenarios to remain competitive in the market. Such companies need to manage their new product innovations and promotions more efficiently and effectively in order to minimize costs and increase sales. At the same time, visibility of inventory and sales across the various channel partners (distributors and retailers) is essential for effective and efficient decision making.
IT has become an effective enabler in this fast-changing world. Emerging technologies are offering better solutions for seamless communication. CPG companies have traditionally invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages for better internal planning. Also, many companies operate with multiple legacy systems, each addressing the needs of a particular functional area. However, these legacy and ERP systems are not integrated to provide a comprehensive view of the business. Web-based sales portals, by integrating internal systems with channel partner systems, provide a complete view of the business and help address many challenges of the CPG industry. Following are the challenges faced by CPG companies across the globe, where a sales portal can be an effective answer:
*
new product introduction and monitoring, where failure of new products due to incorrect research, incorrect pricing, or improper promotional support are primary concerns
*
lack of inventory visibility and sales data across the distribution channel, leading to poor financials
*
meeting the distribution service level expectations of organized retail
*
effective management of promotions, where poor planning, lack of timely data to restructure the promotion, and delay in settling payouts to channel partners are key concerns
*
understanding market trends and competition analysis, where lack of the latest information on market trends and the competition hinders the ability to make appropriate decisions
Most of these problems are critical, and availability of accurate data at the right time is an absolute necessity to address these issues. The current practices of information collection and dissemination across the distribution channel are achieved by traditional means, such as telephone, fax, e-mail, and snail mail. But there are inherent limitations and delays in these modes of communication which, in turn, handicap fast and accurate decision making.
The Sales Portal and Its Key Functional Elements
A portal is a Web-based application that enables companies to interact with channel partners, allowing for collaboration and exchange of real-time information. A portal is a tool that provides for both data extraction and data upload. Sales portals in particular need to have certain functional elements:
*
cost-effective and user-friendly portal technology, where channel partners and internal teams are able to retrieve data quickly and easily
*
the capability to store large amounts of data
*
an analytical tool to perform complex calculations
*
scalability to incorporate additional channel partners into the existing system
Furthermore, a Web-based sales portal has to be able to integrate with internal ERP systems, as well as seamlessly integrate with the transactional databases of the channel partners. Security and authentication functionality of a portal should be able to interact with existing security tools, as well as provide a single sign-on. These functions should manage the user's profile so that the user is able to verify and open any applications within the portal (depending on the user's profile). A portal should enable access to data only to limited and authorized people (distributors and retailers should not be able to view data related to marketing spends, for example). Lastly, a sales portal must be safeguarded against viruses and spam; effective antivirus tools need to be incorporated into the system.
SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/the-web-based-sales-portal-a-catalyst-for-business-transformation-19385/
IT has become an effective enabler in this fast-changing world. Emerging technologies are offering better solutions for seamless communication. CPG companies have traditionally invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages for better internal planning. Also, many companies operate with multiple legacy systems, each addressing the needs of a particular functional area. However, these legacy and ERP systems are not integrated to provide a comprehensive view of the business. Web-based sales portals, by integrating internal systems with channel partner systems, provide a complete view of the business and help address many challenges of the CPG industry. Following are the challenges faced by CPG companies across the globe, where a sales portal can be an effective answer:
*
new product introduction and monitoring, where failure of new products due to incorrect research, incorrect pricing, or improper promotional support are primary concerns
*
lack of inventory visibility and sales data across the distribution channel, leading to poor financials
*
meeting the distribution service level expectations of organized retail
*
effective management of promotions, where poor planning, lack of timely data to restructure the promotion, and delay in settling payouts to channel partners are key concerns
*
understanding market trends and competition analysis, where lack of the latest information on market trends and the competition hinders the ability to make appropriate decisions
Most of these problems are critical, and availability of accurate data at the right time is an absolute necessity to address these issues. The current practices of information collection and dissemination across the distribution channel are achieved by traditional means, such as telephone, fax, e-mail, and snail mail. But there are inherent limitations and delays in these modes of communication which, in turn, handicap fast and accurate decision making.
The Sales Portal and Its Key Functional Elements
A portal is a Web-based application that enables companies to interact with channel partners, allowing for collaboration and exchange of real-time information. A portal is a tool that provides for both data extraction and data upload. Sales portals in particular need to have certain functional elements:
*
cost-effective and user-friendly portal technology, where channel partners and internal teams are able to retrieve data quickly and easily
*
the capability to store large amounts of data
*
an analytical tool to perform complex calculations
*
scalability to incorporate additional channel partners into the existing system
Furthermore, a Web-based sales portal has to be able to integrate with internal ERP systems, as well as seamlessly integrate with the transactional databases of the channel partners. Security and authentication functionality of a portal should be able to interact with existing security tools, as well as provide a single sign-on. These functions should manage the user's profile so that the user is able to verify and open any applications within the portal (depending on the user's profile). A portal should enable access to data only to limited and authorized people (distributors and retailers should not be able to view data related to marketing spends, for example). Lastly, a sales portal must be safeguarded against viruses and spam; effective antivirus tools need to be incorporated into the system.
SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/the-web-based-sales-portal-a-catalyst-for-business-transformation-19385/
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